


Seasons Change

by Lirillith



Category: Free!
Genre: Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Post-Canon, RinRei Week, Spring, Summer, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-04
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 06:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3109526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lirillith/pseuds/Lirillith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nothing lasts forever.  But some things do last.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Seasons Change

**Author's Note:**

> For RinRei Week day 7, "Eternal."

Nothing lasts forever. The beauty of life is only enhanced by awareness of its transience; cherry blossoms are all the more prized because they're so ephemeral. 

It's easier to appreciate the poignant, fleeting beauty of life when it comes to the passing of the seasons than to the passing of one's first relationship, though, Rei finds, and his boyfriend is no help in this matter.

"This _bites,_ " Rin says. "You should have tried hitting on me _before_ I applied to schools in Australia."

"Rin-san, I seem to remember that you were the one who made the first move."

"The hell I did. You totally made a pass at me at Mako's birthday party."

"I _tripped,_ and that's beside the point. If you'd opted to go to school in Japan instead, you'd be too busy studying for entrance exams to spend time with me anyway."

"Nah, I'd have been scouted." 

Rei doesn't really have an answer to that. He resettles his head on Rin's chest, listening to the beating of his heart. Maybe that would have worked. Rin at school somewhere in Japan, able to at least make occasional trips home on holidays, maybe even able to attend some of his tournaments; the two of them, possibly, at the same university, or at least close enough to visit. 

"Hey, cheer up. I won't be starting till the second term at the earliest, maybe even third, so I'll still be around for a little while after your third year starts. And I'll be back to visit at New Year's — no, wait. Summer holidays might even start early enough I could be back for your birthday! I never came back for that long before, but I'd have a reason now."

"Mm." He's been thinking of Australia so much that flipping the seasons is nearly automatic. It's a nice thought, but by December, Rin will have been overseas for at least six months. Possibly closer to a year. Absence doesn't always make the heart grow fonder. It's not that he doesn't believe in Rin's reassurances about email and phone calls and Skype, about visits and frequent-flier miles and places Rin wants to show him. He knows Rin means every word of it. But people change. Feelings change. Everything ends.

Everything beautiful is ephemeral. He knew, before this even began, that his relationship with Rin had an expiration date. He just didn't expect it to hurt so much.

 

"Gaahhh, it's _cold_ here!" 

"It's _winter_ here. Rin-san, I told you to wear a coat!"

"I brought the heaviest coat I could stand to carry, okay, I wasn't ignoring you—"

"It's a good thing I brought gloves and a scarf. There may be earmuffs in here somewhere, too, but if not, you can wear mine—" He glances up, just for a moment, and sees the way Rin's looking at him, like nothing else in the world matters. The scarf slides out of his hands, unnoticed. 

 

Rei intended never to say a word about it, but Rin spoils the surprise by looking up the university Rei finally selected; on a Skype call one night Rin starts reading off its page about study abroad opportunities, then about its sister schools in Adelaide and Melbourne, until Rei actually flees the room. He goes out for a walk around the block, stops off at a convenience store to buy, at random, a bottle of Ramune, a box of aspirin, and a fashion magazine, and returns home. There are three worried voicemails on his phone, which he left by his computer; Rin must have been truly worried not to notice the phone's ringtone via the computer speakers. Rin is pacing and doesn't appear to notice Rei's return until he actually speaks. 

"Rin-san, you shouldn't have left the voicemails. International minutes aren't cheap."

"Well what the hell was I supposed to do? You weren't coming back!" 

"I was embarrassed! Why did you do that?"

"I thought it was cute!"

"That's why I was embarrassed!" 

 

Study abroad opportunities are all in the future, though. For now, he won't have another chance to see Rin until the next winter at the earliest; Rin talks about visits on his own school holidays, but he has competitions scheduled, and he can't afford to miss training. The visits are pipe dreams, Rei reminds himself. They're pleasant to discuss, certainly, but they're not real. 

What's real is his tiny apartment, his new routine, and his studies, which has no intention of neglecting no matter how much Rin prods him. "I thought Japanese universities were like a vacation after entrance exams," Rin says.

"That may be, but that doesn't mean there's nothing for me to learn." Rei can't help getting prim and irritable about this. He's not coasting through to a degree so he can work as a salaryman somewhere; he wants a career in academia, and if studying overseas won't further that goal, he'll have to sacrifice that, however reluctantly. 

"This was why I wasn't going to tell you about it," Rei explains, after he unwisely tells Rin exactly that. " _If_ it worked out it was supposed to be a pleasant surprise!" 

"Why'd you pick a school for that if you weren't going to follow up on it?" Rin demands. 

"That wasn't my only criteria, and besides, I didn't say I wasn't going to follow through." 

"You might as well have! What the hell, Rei! I got my hopes up, and you—"

"This is exactly what I feared! I didn't want you to be disappointed—"

"Why aren't _you_ disappointed, huh? You act like coming here would be doing me a favor."

"Rin-san, that's not true at all!" 

 

They'd fought before, certainly, but fighting long-distance feels different, and so does making up tearfully afterwards. It's not just the lack of makeup sex, even if that's what Rin identifies; there's no room for physical comfort any more than there is for physical confrontation, and the whole issue feels unsatisfying and unresolved. Are they going to have to hash this out again when they see each other next? And when will that be? 

Winter, he thinks. Their school holidays don't line up well enough, otherwise. After significant internal debate, he takes on a part-time job over the summer, so he can save money for airfare. Rio isn't a factor, though Rei is confident that Rin will qualify the next time around; his knowledge of theory and statistics, never much use with his teammates at Iwatobi, is far more helpful here. Tickets for the Tokyo Olympics might be relevant, since Rei will be a graduate student at that time; it never hurts to save, anyway. In the short term, if he visits Australia, it will have less impact on Rin's training and competition schedule than if Rin were to travel, or so he hopes. But he doesn't want to tell Rin what he's doing. If something derails his plans, Rin will clearly take it badly. 

_omg rei-chan just TELL him already_ Nagisa texts him, on receiving the news. _otherwise he'll notice ur busy and tired and he'll think ur cheating._

Which is absurd. Rei still can't believe the miracle that got _one_ man interested him romantically and sexually, at all, let alone the fact that the one person in question is Rin Matsuoka. The idea that he'd squander that good fortune is ridiculous, and it's somewhat implausible that he'd even have the opportunity to do so. Rin surely knows him too well to imagine that he'd seek out the opportunity, either. He frequents physics lectures, not gay bars, and that's by choice.

No, if anyone's affections are at risk, it would be Rin's. Rin is the world-class swimmer with the body to show for it. Rin is the one who's been telling him about the legendary debauchery of the Olympic Village, and the one who has that as his destination. Rin is the outgoing, charming one. 

Rin is the one who calls him, unexpectedly, in the middle of the afternoon one day in July. Rei doesn't recognize the number, but he answers, in case it's someone connected to his job; he works at a small family business and there are at least three personal cell phones that might be calling him from unfamiliar numbers. 

"Rei," Rin says, "You wanna guess where I am?"

The number was local, and there was no country code. Even if Rei couldn't hear Japanese in the background he'd have no need to guess. 

"But _why,_ " he demands, his voice rising helplessly, "Rin-san, your training is going to suffer, you can't just leave—"

"Rei," Rin repeats, with an edge to his voice. "It is so fucking humid in this country I think my _brain_ is sweating. I've been up and down the same block five times trying to find your invisible building. Help me."

"Okay," Rei says, standing up immediately. "I'll find you."

 

It's only four days, but it's long enough to start to feel almost domestic. They walk to the store together, they go out for udon, and when they come back Rin peels off his shirt and plants himself directly in front of Rei's window AC unit. Rei makes them breakfast. Rei comes back from work to find Rin waiting for him, reading a manga — "man, I think they're still in the same fight they were on at New Year's" — or to find a note saying where he's going. They jog together in the evenings, when it's a bit cooler. 

So the secret's out about Rei's job, and Rin doesn't even seem surprised. "Nagisa told me," he says; if Nagisa told him the reason, or if he's guessed, he doesn't say anything about it. He talks, instead, about the Olympic trials in April. Which coincide with the first week of classes.

"Y'know, I actually kind of missed the way you screech and squawk when things don't go your way," Rin says. 

 

The train journey to Tokyo is only a few hours. Rei has been studying on trains all his life; having a seat and a fold-down table for the purpose is the lap of luxury. It's not an ideal solution — expensive, tiring, and still with the risk of missing Rin's races — but it's the best he can do. 

It's significantly better than the train journey between Melbourne and Sydney. He may have to get accustomed to shopping for budget flights.

There are cherry blossoms everywhere in Tokyo, unsurprisingly, but with Rin on his mind, he can't help but remember that pool full of sakura, and their own failed attempt at the same thing. Cherry blossoms don't just mean spring, anymore; they mean Rin. 

Cherry blossoms fall, and wither, but the tree itself lasts out the years.

Nothing lasts forever, but some things can last a very long time, Rei thinks, returning Makoto's wave. Spring ends, but then it comes back, sooner every year. 

And in October, when he begins his term in Melbourne, it will be spring there, with jacaranda trees in bloom.


End file.
